Bryce Hayes
For Immediate Release
IRVING, Texas — #RV Texas Lutheran Baseball split a doubleheader against Dallas, securing the series with a 17-0 win in seven innings to to win the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship before dropping the series finale 3-2 on Saturday at Crusader Fields in Irving.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 28-11 overall record and 21-9 league mark to earn the No. 1 seed in the 2026 SCAC Tournament at La Moderna Field in Cleburne, Texas. The championship is the first since 2023’s regular season championship and the first under head coach Kyle Palmer ’09. The 2026 SCAC Tournament, which will feature six teams for the first time, begins on April 30. The Bulldogs have earned a bye with the No. 1 seed and will begin SCAC Tournament play on May 1. The tournament will be streamed in its entirety on FloCollege. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.
Freshman Jack Grames (Elgin/Elgin) tossed a seven-inning complete game shutout, facing just four batters over the minimum. He allowed three hits and two walks, while striking out three to improve to 8-2 this season.
The Bulldogs launched four home runs, matching their season-high. Adam Peavy (Houston/Memorial) finished the game 2-for-5 with a homer, four RBI, and three runs scored. Cole Cravens (Round Rock/Round Rock) went 2-for-3 with a homer, a walk, three RBI, and two runs scored. Mathew Elizondo (Eagle Pass/Eagle Pass) and Tyler Helpenstill (Houston/Lutheran South) also homered in the game with Elizondo’s homer being the first of his career.
An RBI single from Peavy and a two-RBI double from Cravens gave the Bulldogs an early 3-0 lead in the first inning.
Texas Lutheran added two more runs to go up 5-0 in the third after a sacrifice fly from Caleb Small (Round Rock/Gateway College Preparatory) and an RBI fielder’s choice from Cooper Jen (Kyle/Hays).
The Bulldogs added another run in the fourth on an RBI sacrifice bunt from Brayden Sprencel (Robstown/Calallen).
TLU scored 11 runs over the final three innings, starting with four more runs in the fifth to extend their lead to 10-0. Cole Cravens led off the inning with his third homer of the season. A two-RBI single from Caleb Alfaro (San Antonio/St. Anthony Catholic) and an RBI single from Sprencel concluded the scoring in the inning.
A Caleb Small RBI double in the sixth pushed the game further into run-rule territory.
The Bulldogs ended the game with a three-homer seventh inning. Adam Peavy hit his team-high seventh homer of the season, a three-run homer to give the Bulldogs a two touchdown lead over the Crusaders. After a pinch hit double from Drew Burnett (Seguin/Seguin), Mathew Elizondo hit his first career home run and Tyler Helpenstill followed with a solo home run as TLU hit back-to-back homers to wrap the scoring in Saturday’s first contest.
Texas Lutheran Baseball was unable to complete the sweep, falling 3-2 to the Crusaders in the regular season and series finale.
Senior Parker Schutte (Arlington/Lamar) pitched well in relief, tossing 2.1 innings and striking out one but was charged with the loss after allowing the game-winning run in the eighth.
Cody Andrade (Calallen/Calallen) got the final two outs in relief of Schutte. Starter Isaiah Ramirez (San Antonio/Marshall) pitched five innings and allowed two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts.
Michael Barrera (San Antonio/East Central) had a good day at the plate with two hits including a double and a run scored, while Caleb Alfaro had two hits and an RBI.
Dallas scored its first run of the day in the bottom of the second, utilizing a trio of singles to go up 1-0. Ramirez was able to get out of the one-out, bases loaded jam to limit the Crusaders to just one run.
A TLU error led to the Crusaders second run in the sixth inning as the TLU deficit extended to 2-0.
Texas Lutheran tied the game up 2-2 in the seventh on an RBI sacrifice bunt from Caleb Small and a bases loaded, infield RBI single from Alfaro.
Entering the game with the winning run on third, Cody Andrade came out of the bullpen and was greeted by an RBI double in the eighth in what turned out to be the game-winner for the Crusaders.
For more information on Texas Lutheran baseball and all TLU athletics, you can find updates on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics and @TLU_Baseball on X (Twitter), @tlubulldogs on Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok).